The couple who bought the houseboat used for the exterior shots of Sam Baldwin's home in Sleepless in Seattle have opened up their home and revealed the twist of fate that brought them to the iconic property.

Loretta, 71, and her then-boyfriend Jim Healy were living in Princeton, New Jersey when they made an historic date night deal.

'I told him that I had gone to see
Silence of the Lambs with him, and he'd have to go see Sleepless in
Seattle with me,' she tells the National Enquirer (not online). 'As we were watching the film,
I poked him and said "I want to live in that houseboat".'

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Still Sleepless: Loretta and Jim Healy bought the four-bedroom floating home in 1993 and say that they have been happy there for the past 20 years

At the time, Loretta didn't take her dream seriously because at that time, they had no plans to relocate to Seattle.

But she admits that she already fallen in love with the unique four bedroom, 2,100 square foot property that Tom Hanks's character called home. Then, out of the blue, Jim got a job interview in the Emerald City.